Ni hao.
If you feel clueless about what to start writing on your blog because “there’s always going to be an Asian better than you”, then this is for you.
In fact, if you feel like there’s no point trying anyway because “it’s not going to be the best”, I devoted 5 hours of my time writing this article to prove you wrong.
You see, we live in an age of social media where stories of young geniuses go viral so quickly, and we are so quick to idolize them. We completely forgot about the mass population who rely on hard work and lifelong experiences, who seem to be doing perfectly fine in accumulating wealth.
You don’t have to be the founder of a billion-dollar company. You don’t have to own a startup at 23. Having genius qualities feel nice, but they are not essentials in bringing in the cash.
Now kids, get this through your head.
Talent is overrated. Pick a niche and work your ass off.
What’s a niche?
In simpler terms, you can think of it as a category, a theme, an industry, a hobby-centric thingy, anything at all. The idea is the narrower your focus, the more niche it is.
For example.
You’d think ‘reptiles’ is a niche for the Pet Category. You are right.
Now we narrow it down further, and it becomes EVEN MORE niche.
Say, if you are searching for information regarding how to care for a chameleon, you will be more inclined to trust sources from a website dedicated to chameleons of various species, compared to a generic pets website with basic care sheets.
Yes, nature is wonderful. Fun fact: Most people who couldn’t imagine ever owning a reptile listed the CHAMELEON as their most likely ‘reptile pet’.
I suck at everything, how to pick a niche?
Shut up. Nobody sucks at everything. Now, to pick a niche for your blog, you may go for ANY niche that you’re familiar with or enjoy writing about in the long run.
What is it you’re good at; better than most people? (Skills-related)
What is it you really, really like? (Passion-related)
Or, what is it that you know more than most people, from experience? (Life/work related)
If you can’t think of anything as of now, start thinking about evergreen topics.
As in topics that will always, always be popular because humans are predictable. Some examples are:
Fashion – we need clothes.
Health – most of us aren’t suicidal.
Medical – we fragile.
Homes – need shelter.
Entertainment – we creatures of gossip.
Pets – the only meaningful thing in life.
Sex – to pro-create.
Philosophy – to depopulate.
These aren’t all, but you get it. Don’t worry, I’ll give you more examples at the end of this blog.
Nice, I got an idea now. How do I know if my niche is trending?
Glad you asked. Enthusiasm is a good sign you’re ready.
First option; you can check out Google Trends <<trends.google.com>> and compare the 2 categories’ search volume. Say, you’re deciding between CYCLING or RUNNING (cos you’re a wild stallion, baby). Simply key in these terms and the charts will show you which one generates more interest.
The second option, you can filter interests by category or subcategories on CBGraph <www.cbgraph.com/marketplace.php>. Look at the Products’ Gravity – it is an indication of how many affiliates are currently making sales out of the product. The higher the gravity amount, the more affiliates there are earning commissions from that product at that given moment.
For example, under the Business/Investing niche, the highest gravity is 43 (which is not bad at all considering some are below 5). Some other niches can go as high as 200 and above!
Here’s a clue; check out how many products are in that niche or sub-niche. The more products there are offered, the more product creators want to milk money from that niche because it usually means that it is lucrative.
A thing to note – HOT means more demand and supply, which also means high competition. Between a larger pie with a smaller portion, or smaller pie with a larger portion, I usually go for the larger pie with a smaller share.
But you do you, man. Both pies pay equally well.
The indicator of success to watch out for, is your KEYWORDS list.
What are the keywords that work?
Keywords are important because they decide on which page of Google search you’ll appear on.
If you rank for tough keywords (100k searches), you’re may appear somewhere on Page 39. (Who tf goes to page 39 on Google?)
But if you rank for easy keywords (100 searches), there’s a good chance you can show up on Page 1, with 30 visitors monthly.
I’ve dedicated an entire long course for Keyword Research Guidance. Check it out here.
When you have found your golden keywords, note it down and START producing articles (with the keywords) consistently. You won’t go wrong with writing once or twice a week. Be persistent, consistency is your key.
But what if my writing is crap?
My child, define crap.
No, actually, define what is good writing. Cuz you know what?
A poet will tell you good writing needs depth.
A salesman will tell you that it needs to be persuasive.
A copywriter will tell you it needs to be short and punchy.
A journalist will tell you it needs to be grammatically correct.
If my lecturer read my blogs, she’d have graded my writing with a BIG. EFFING. F.
But here you are, reading almost towards the end of my blog.
My point is this; don’t worry too much about what’s good what’s crap.
That effort you put into worrying, put it into articulating your thoughts.
Start with a brain dump. Open your notepad, write with no filters.
Read it. Cringe. Edit. But don’t over think the small details.
What matters is that your readers understand what you’re trying to say.
I’m not great with my vocabulary. So I use metaphors.
Find your style, and the only way to do it is to keep writing.
My mom told me this:
If you spend too much time planning for perfection, you’ll never get started.
Get started. Now.
Good luck.
If you missed my article on Affiliate Marketing, you can read it here.
